Tag Archives: post-traumatic stress disorder

Do you feel like you are living in a bubble and that there is no place outside of your bubble that is safe? Do you suffer from multiple chemical sensitivities and environmental illness? If so you are not alone. There was a time when I lived in a ‘virtual bubble’ to protect myself from all of the chemicals that caused my body to react. Many years later, after much research and trial and error strategies I have escaped my bubble and can help you to escape yours as well. I can now feel safe in the world, go anywhere and eat anywhere, without fear or reacting. Yes, I still go with informed vigilance and protection because there are many harmful substances in the world that could potentially hurt me, and everyone else out there.

Most people have a considerable quotient of well-being. For those whose health is challenged by a variety of daily symptoms and conditions, well-being can be elusive.

My health journey has taken me through multiple health challenges. Symptom relief was a daily challenge for many years. For many people this is the case. The pre-occupation with extreme and chronic symptoms, and the search for symptom relief can leave little time to address ‘root causes’ of the symptoms, a must for health true recovery.

All of the above factors can cause damage or changes to the body’s original ‘software’ and body’s default settings, and subsequent way of responding. Software is the entire set of programs, procedures, and related documentation associated with a system and especially a computer system. Your body’s operating system is more complex than a high tech computer and comes equipped with preprogrammed criteria for responding, your software.

In cases of multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), allergies, toxicant loss of tolerance (TILT), heightened sense of smell, auto immune and other disorders; the body’s normal way of responding has been altered because the body’s software and body’s default settings have been altered by a major trauma, in my case it was the off gassing of a new house added to my body pollution. One of the resulting challenges was an overwhelming awareness and offense to the smell of all chemicals and scents, event in small amounts. A heightened offended sense of smell can also be an indicator of body pollution.

The challenge in major health challenges like those listed in the previous paragraph is to get your body to differentiate between scents and chemicals that really harm and those that you are simply fearful of. The body/mind can become very vigilant after a major trauma and initiate various ‘skewed’ responses, like a heighted olfactory response, in an attempt to protect you. Many people find that they are also offended and sometimes negatively affected by natural scents. Getting your body/mind to differentiate will allow you to live in the real world and not become a prisoner to your fears, diagnosed condition and it’s initial limitations. It will also allow you more recovery options, like therapeutic essential oil therapy, a safe solution for symptom relief. You can desensitize your heightened and offended sense of smell by smelling ‘safe for you’ (a practitioner who using neuromuscularbiofeedback testing can help determine these) daily doses of 100% pure therapeutic grade essential oils.

What alters your body’s software?

Alterations to your body’s software can be the result of a combination of physical, mental, emotional or spiritual assaults or reprogramming. These changes and the ability to restore original programming can be affected by what you have been told in a diagnosis and prognosis, acceptance of your situation, ownership of a diagnosis and prognosis (I have _______), what you believe, what you think, what you say and what you expect. Although I use the words allergies, MCS, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, stress sensitization and spasmodic dysphonia when I relay my journey to improved health – I was always careful to say, my body is affected by these symptoms or conditions instead of ‘I have’ these conditions which denotes ownership.

There was a time when I reacted every time I ate any food and was so afraid of every chemical and every smell because they offended me, and so I determined that they all hurt me. The truth is that many of the foods, chemicals and smells that I experienced were harmful or toxic to me because of my injury and did have a negative effect on my body. The reality was that there were also many chemicals (everything is made up of chemicals) and scents that although offensive to me were not hurting me. The ‘all or none’ thinking that person’s with MCS and other conditions experience is understandable. There was a time when MCS was considered a psychological condition, maybe the reason for that is the ‘all or none’ thinking that sufferers sometimes revert to protect themselves from further harm.

How do you restore your body’s ‘software’ and normal way of responding?

To restore your body’s software and normal way of responding it is important to update the software with corrections. The software on a computer requires regular updates to stay current. If your body has been responding in a ‘skewed’ fashion due to trauma – it’s time to update your body’s software. That is what I did to get my body to stop mounting ‘skewed responses’ and achieve symptom free living.

It is important to continue with protection strategies and keep an open mind about what is possible, allowing your brain to update your software. This will require letting go of the ‘all or none’ thinking. Following are some strategies that were successful for me that you can use to help you to update your body’s altered software and way of responding.

Change your internal dialogue:

Although I am offended and affected by many chemicals and scents, I am not negatively affected by all chemicals and scents.

Although some foods cause me to feel unwell, making me suspicious of many foods, there are foods that are safe for me to eat.

Although my body has been reacting with ‘skewed responses’ at times, I know that my body can and does respond normally as well.

Although I have been told that there is no cure for my condition and nothing can be done, I know that my body can heal itself and restore normal responding.

“Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing forcewithin each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.”

Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, Greek Physician (460BC-377BC)

Your complex body was created with many amazing abilities. Every moment of every day, without any action on your part hundreds of processes are taking place and abilities are available to you, even while you are asleep. The healthy human organism, with its complex high-tech operating system, is continually self-detecting, self-diagnosing, self-renewing, self-healing, self-repairing, self-cleaning and self-protecting. The body has an internal pharmacy, which when functioning properly produces natural analgesic, anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, anti-stress, sleep-inducing, immune system strengthening and gastrointestinal normalizing chemicals.[1] Many of the body’s processes and abilities are automatic and are often taken for granted. There are many factors that can interfere with these normal processes and abilities. It is your responsibility to understand and protect these abilities and the internal communications required to ensure they function normally. You can learn how in my book THE WHOLE PERSON WELL-BEING EQUATION, my website www.mybodycanhealitself.ca and my blog http://mybodycanhealitself.ca/wordpress .

This does not mean you should stop seeing your doctor. He or she is the person you consult for additional assistance and assessments.